My husband has numbness & burning in his leg with no visible affliiction....?

Question

Its effecting pretty much the whole left upper outer thigh muscle area.
He complains of numbness to the touch and a burning sensation.
I can't find anything similar in my self care medical guide and he has no visible injuries, marks, or irritations. The only thing that is different is is that the skin is slightly lighter in color than the rest of his leg. Without insurance he doesn't want to get it checked out.
Does anyone know what this is or has experienced something similar?
Is it serious?
He works in Asphalt Maintence, he shovels asphalt, slurrys & stripes so he is on his feet a lot, walks a lot and uses his leg muscles quite a bit. (Average workday is 10 hrs)
It's been a few weeks since this started, and hes had little down time.
Please tell me what you think.

Answer 1

When ever your sensation is affected you can bet that you have a nerve injury. I wouldn't worry too much about a stroke because that would affect a greater area than just a thigh. Sciatic pain should only follow the sciatic nerve, and that would not run to the front of the leg. The dermatome (area) that the skin is affected would most likely come from the upper low back. It may also be damaged or pinched in the buttock area. When you have damaged nerves they become either hyper sensitive, or hypo sensitve. Numbess is hypo, burning is hyper. Someone mentioned DVT, deep venous thrombosis. Although he isnt experiencing the classic symptoms I wouldnt rule it out. He should have a thorough exam. In the mean time he should ice his low back and take it easy.

Answer 2

I've had a similiar problem for years. I don't know if it is the same as your husbands. My problem came about from lifting a heavy weight incorrectly (wrong posture) - I was moving to a new place. My problem was diagnosed by a doc. He said that there was a disc pushing on the outside of my spinal cord. The pressure was just enough to cause a burning, numbness, and a stining, tingling sensation, which at times, especially at night caused me a lot of discomfort. My left leg (outer thigh) was the only leg affected. The only remedy at the time was surgery. However, the doc said I would only need to have surg. if I began to have muscle weakness in my leg. I never developed weakness. Therefore, I've just lived with the problem. With me, after awhile, I began to feel less pain. However, there are times when it really does get to me. When you experiance weakness that means that the disc is pressing not only on the outside of the s. column, but more towards the inner part of the spinal column. This would imply a more serious injury. It sounds like, based on your description of what your husband does for a living probably caused this injury. If he continues to lift a lot of shovel loads every day than he better get some help on how to lift correctly each time he shovels. He may need to rest to give his back time to heal - perhaps it's temporary inflamation only. Rest would be the best thing for him. Also, he needs to see a Doctor and get xrays asap.

I hope this response helps. This is only my experience and my opinon only. Please seed medical help.

G

Answer 3

The first thing that I would recommend is that he take out that big fat wallet and give all the money in it to you so you can go shopping.. HA HA All kidding aside, sometimes the pressure of a wallet pushing on the sciatic nerve could cause numbness and or pain in the buttock and down the back of his thigh. It could even travel down to the ankle. I would definitely get a second opinion. I see a pain management Doctor which specializes in areas of the spine. With the help of an MRI we were able to localize the area and focus on that only. I have been to Physical Therapy several times which only irritated the problem and prolonged my pain. Don't mess around with this, see a specialist and don't stop until you find a solution. Remember the Doctors work for YOU. You wouldn't put up with an operator who wouldn't answer the phone would you? Of course not! Find a Doctor that can help your husband, I'm sure he's worth it. I'm a recovering addict and refuse to take any narcotics that could jeopardize my recovery, so I take really hot baths with Epsom salts in the water, this really helps with the pain. Another thing I do is to stretch the musicals in my back, keeping the musicals loose and flexible. I don't know if your husband is in any pain, but I wanted to offer these suggestions just in case. God Bless and watch over you and yours.

Answer 4

he might have neuropathy, it's an abnormality of the nervous system and causes the pain, numbness, and even severe itching at times, the skin feels "hot". The fact that his skin is a lighter color can indicate a circulation problem. Usually neuropathy is related to diabetes or peripheral neuropathy which is damage to the nerve cells that supply sensation to the arms or legs. he really needs to get checked out as he could have vein problems as well as a clot brewing. I would consult a doctor, his life could be at risk.

Answer 5

It could be alot of things, like maybe sciatia (inflammed nerve),or perhaps something a little more serious (i don't want to scare you), but maybe MS. Numbness is a sign. Does he have blurry vision, has he been passing out, bad memory, inability to control his bladder or bowels? It also depends on where he grew up. Futher North, the higher the risk of it. It's prevalent in Canada and the American Midwest...but not isolated.
Go to the MS webpage for Canada. But, go to a doctor. It's really important. Good luck and God Bless you both.

Answer 6

One possible thought: although it usually affects the lower leg (calf), he could have some type of deep-vein thrombosis (DVT). It is an inflammation of a vein that could lead to clots. This could be very serious (especially happening in the the thigh). His best bet is to see a doctor and soon. If that's what it it, walking and working on it will make it worse.

Answer 7

My husband had something similar when he hurt his back. They got his back to go back in, but it was always just a tiny bit sore. We think his sciatic nerve was affected (you can tell by a little jarring pain in your back below the kidneys, just at the pelvic bone) His leg stayed numb forever. It really bugged him, but eventually it went away. We just assumed he must've aggravated the nerves & even though he was 'all better' there was still some slight swelling that wasn't noticable except for that.

Answer 8

The sciatic nerve can cause symptoms like you have described. When the lower back is strained, inflammation sets in and the nerve is crowded or pinched. An OTC anti-inflammatory like ibuprofen can help. Also it is important to stretch before and after physical activity. Staying hydrated is also very important to reduce muscle spasms.

Answer 9

It sounds like a type of sciatica.......I have the same symptoms myself........Its causes are heavy lifting and being on your feet a lot......it is very painful at times.......when he starts to feel pain and numbness, by changing position, e.g.. standing to sitting, standing up from sitting down, and changing body position gives some relief temporarily, I've had it for 15 years, still comes and goes....... :-)

Answer 10

Does your husbad have a history of diabetes? Another thing you may want to consider is DVT. Alot of people would lest symptoms of his nature disappear on their own becuase he may just have a pulled muscle or tendon. If there is disocloration of the extremity I would follow up with a physician